US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas • Hacker News Board

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#151

Post by ujkhsjkdhf234 » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 1:56 PM UTC

potato3732842 wrote: post #131

ujkhsjkdhf234 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What problems are you talking about? Be specific.

>What problems are you talking about? Be specific. The one where these people don't have work papers, so they can't work the kind of above the table jobs you need to work to fully support yourself so they wind up being a drain on our social safety nets. The average working American in my state can't even afford "good" healthcare but we're happy to let these people in sign these people up for state healthcare and bene…

> The average working American in my state can't afford "good" healthcare but we're happy to let these people in sign these people up for state healthcare and benefits (at least in my blue state, perhaps the red states have stringent criteria that makes them ineligible) and doll out millions of dollars of contracts to all sorts of entities that facilitate this process. It's absolutely nonsensical policy. And this is without even examining the effects on supply and demand of labor, cheap housing, etc, which I'm sure aren't great.

You're blaming the wrong people for this. Illegal immigrants are not to blame for shit healthcare and if anything, they make things cheaper for you. No one in your state wants to work farms for less than minimum wage.

> I don't hate the immigrants. They're mostly fine people. But I would enact the most unspeakable horrors upon the people who actively created this situation were I given the opportunity.

The most conservative voices are the ones who hire illegal immigrants under the table including the current POTUS. Illegal immigration is a solvable issue and if you look closely at Texas government you'll see that. You will occasionally get a Republican who puts forth a real solution for illegal immigration and other Texas Republicans tank it because they like to campaign on the issue. You can't campaign on illegal immigrants if you fix the problem.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#152

Post by mrtksn » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 2:07 PM UTC

msgodel wrote: post #146

mrtksn wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I never get a response when ask for specifics. Cheers.

What the hell? No. forcing someone to undergo a medical intervention is strictly more invasive than asking for their social media handle -> a policy doing such is strictly more oppressive. >but we were facing a threat Precisely the same argument is made WRT visa candidates. You do get and have gotten specifics, you're either illiterate or don't want to read them.

It’s really about fundamental definitions. You define safety precautions as such, therefore your thought process. You are not wrong, just you built it on that kind of basis.

It’s the same about visa etc. It’s always a trade off between things.

And trh definitions are all about what you value and what you’re afraid of.

Afraid of the virus? PCR and vaccinate everyone, those who don’t want to can choose not to work and if this puts then in hard position though luck.

Afraid of people protesting you, sabotage your agenda etc? Check their social media to make sure you are admitting friendlies. Freedom of thought? Who cares, we have bigger fish to fry. Our citizens will do the thinking from now on, will re-asses later.

BTW, I agree that the pandemic was mismanaged horribly in most of the world. It’s just that I disagree with you stance on the vaccine but I sympathize with you that you should not be put in a position to choose between your job and getting vaccinated.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#153

Post by jaybrendansmith » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 2:09 PM UTC

mrtksn wrote: post #130

msgodel wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. It had nothing to do with RTO and PCR was not an alternative. There was a federal policy (not legislated btw, just an EO for all the people complaining about Trump using EOs to undo previous EOs) that said any company with federal contracts (which is nearly all tech companies in the US, not just defense contractors) must have 100% of its employees vaccinated. It had nothing to do with safety since there was no pr…

Where’s is the oppression in that? It’s pretty normal to have health procedures to the best understanding of the threat at the time. It’s pretty straightforward, all kind of professions have all kinds of rules. Can be argued that the understanding or the precautions weren’t right but I don’t see the personal or political aspect of this. Maybe hi-vis vest are also problematic, so what? Are you upset with the bureaucra…

You can't reason with these people. They don't understand science or biologics. They think it's ok to infect someone's grandparents with COVID-19 and kill or disable them (as what happened to my mother). It's their right as citizens, to spread their filth and pathogens to everybody and refuse the vaccine. In short, it's all about them.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#154

Post by msgodel » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 2:11 PM UTC

mrtksn wrote: post #152

msgodel wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the hell? No. forcing someone to undergo a medical intervention is strictly more invasive than asking for their social media handle -> a policy doing such is strictly more oppressive. >but we were facing a threat Precisely the same argument is made WRT visa candidates. You do get and have gotten specifics, you're either illiterate or don't want to read them.

It’s really about fundamental definitions. You define safety precautions as such, therefore your thought process. You are not wrong, just you built it on that kind of basis. It’s the same about visa etc. It’s always a trade off between things. And trh definitions are all about what you value and what you’re afraid of. Afraid of the virus? PCR and vaccinate everyone, those who don’t want to can choose not to work and…

Our discussion (at least originally) is not about whether the oppression is justified which is why we would care about how threats are judged. It's about the degree of oppression.

Again I do not think there is a realistic argument you could make where forced medical intervention is less invasive than reading public social media posts, regardless of how helpful the medicine might be.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#155

Post by msgodel » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 2:13 PM UTC

text0404 wrote: post #149

roxolotl wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Without freedom of association people stop socializing when you get a plurality population, you can see this everywhere in the US. Can you elaborate on this? To me, again just being honest and genuine, it reads as a racist dog whistle which says “without a shared cultural baseline this country will collapse”. I’ve worked with local immigrant advocate groups and have multiple immigrants living on the same street as…

This person believes in the (white) replacement conspiracy theory and is trying to articulate its tenets without referencing or naming it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Replacement_conspiracy_t...

I'm fine with naming it although I think there are legitimate practical problems beyond just that.

Why is it wrong to not want to be made a minority in your own country? Most of the time when that's been done to other people it's been strongly condemned for good reasons. Why when it's done to some of the most productive (and I would argue just) people in history is it considered a good thing?

Why is it surprising that people prefer to be around other people like them and don't function as well with people who don't behave the same way?

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#156

Post by potato3732842 » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 2:32 PM UTC

ujkhsjkdhf234 wrote: post #151

potato3732842 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What problems are you talking about? Be specific. The one where these people don't have work papers, so they can't work the kind of above the table jobs you need to work to fully support yourself so they wind up being a drain on our social safety nets. The average working American in my state can't even afford "good" healthcare but we're happy to let these people in sign these people up for state healthcare and bene…

> The average working American in my state can't afford "good" healthcare but we're happy to let these people in sign these people up for state healthcare and benefits (at least in my blue state, perhaps the red states have stringent criteria that makes them ineligible) and doll out millions of dollars of contracts to all sorts of entities that facilitate this process. It's absolutely nonsensical policy. And this is…

I think it speaks volumes to either your reading comprehension or moral character (more likely the latter IMO) that you took my comment which is to the tune of "this is the effect of group A, I blame group B" and then strawman me as blaming group A. My statement as to the scope of group B who I do blame was intentionally vague so as to include the many varieties of people within it.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#157

Post by lantry » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 2:35 PM UTC

kcplate wrote: post #145

childintime wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking about presenting at a conference in the USA in november, but the risks and abuse associated with entrance are now so high, it's out of the question. The world can no longer center on the USA. The tr*mp administration seems to think they are inviolable, that they can solve every problem with the military. They'll be caught with their pants down. A $400 drone can now take out a $2B piece of equipment. Th…

> A $400 drone can now take out a $2B piece of equipment. That waters the mouth of any adversary. Aren’t you actually arguing for these kind of enhanced vetting measures with this realization? If anti-US sentiment is high and if the barrier to sabotaging a $2B system is a meager $400…why wouldn’t you do everything you could to prevent people who might be inclined, supportive, or even publicly indifferent to doing you…

These "enhanced" vetting measures don't actually provide any protection against these kinds of attacks. All they do is increase the anti-US sentiment, which increases the number of people interested in attacking us.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#158

Post by SauciestGNU » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 2:36 PM UTC

neallindsay wrote: post #77

gwd wrote: post #13

Haven't these guys heard of the "reciprocity principle"? When I went to Brazil a few years ago, the basic price for a tourist visa was like $25 and could be done online. But, if you were a US citizen, it cost $150 and you had to schedule an attend an interview in person -- because , those were the costs and burdens placed on Brazilian citizens to apply for a US visa. Does the US want other countries inspecting our ci…

The xenophobes making these decisions don't care if they create problems for US citizens traveling abroad.

They probably also don't want Americans abroad and able to see how much better things are in so many places.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#159

Post by awnird » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 2:36 PM UTC

msgodel wrote: post #155

text0404 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This person believes in the (white) replacement conspiracy theory and is trying to articulate its tenets without referencing or naming it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Replacement_conspiracy_t...

I'm fine with naming it although I think there are legitimate practical problems beyond just that. Why is it wrong to not want to be made a minority in your own country? Most of the time when that's been done to other people it's been strongly condemned for good reasons. Why when it's done to some of the most productive (and I would argue just) people in history is it considered a good thing? Why is it surprising tha…

Why would that be a problem? Are minorities treated badly in America?

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#160

Post by ujkhsjkdhf234 » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 2:38 PM UTC

potato3732842 wrote: post #156

ujkhsjkdhf234 wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The average working American in my state can't afford "good" healthcare but we're happy to let these people in sign these people up for state healthcare and benefits (at least in my blue state, perhaps the red states have stringent criteria that makes them ineligible) and doll out millions of dollars of contracts to all sorts of entities that facilitate this process. It's absolutely nonsensical policy. And this is…

I think it speaks volumes to either your reading comprehension or moral character (more likely the latter IMO) that you took my comment which is to the tune of "this is the effect of group A, I blame group B" and then strawman me as blaming group A. My statement as to the scope of group B who I do blame was intentionally vague so as to include the many varieties of people within it.

I'm not taking your comment as you blaming Democrats or Republicans. I'm pointing out that the people who are largely anti-immigration are the ones perpetuating the problem and if people want to really solve the problem, we can solve it. You just have to not get distracted by false narratives.